The “Three Men” Who Appeared to Abraham

As Fr. E.F. Sutcliffe, S.J., summarizes in A Catholic Commentary on Holy Scripture, “It’s difficult to know whether Yahweh appeared in person or through the intermediary of an angel.” He refers the reader to his note on Genesis 16:7, in which he says that “the Angel of Yahweh” (16:7) is later identified as God himself in (16:13). The other two “men” who went on to Sodom (Gen. 18:22) are revealed to be angels (Gen. 19:1ff.)

So we are left to wonder about the identity one of the “men,” but we are affirmed in faith knowing that the Father (Yahweh) sent his only begotten eternal Son to become man to save us from our sins (John 3:16-17).

For more on how God may have manifested himself in Old Testament times, please see this Catholic Answers Magazine article by Dave Armstrong.